Three New Plugins From Remote-Learner

Back in January, we celebrated the new Add-On Manager as a gift that keeps on giving. Add-On Manager is a one-stop, self-service tool for installing, updating, repairing, and uninstalling plugins from your Moodle or Totara site and we’re excited about the improved user experience the new release provides.

Today, we’re excited to share that Add-On Manager continues to live up to its “giving” reputation following the release of three new Remote-Learner exclusive plugins: Data Fetcher, Account Sync, and Job Sync can all be installed on Remote-Learner hosted sites starting tomorrow, March 1st. These plugins, designed in collaboration with clients, offer simple, intuitive solutions to real-world problems faced by site administrators. Let’s take a closer look at each one:

Data Fetcher

Problem: There are many tools for importing data into the LMS so that LMS content stays synchronized with external systems…but someone has to put the file on the LMS server. For many, this is a manual process.

Solution: Data Fetcher can be configured to automatically obtain a file located through a URL, even one protected by a secure login, and copy it to the LMS server on a recurring basis to be processed by another tool in the LMS like Data Hub or HR Import for Totara Learn. With this function in place, the end-to-end process of synchronizing data between systems can be automated and controlled in a single location inside the LMS.

Account Sync

Problem: Users who need to access two different sites end up maintaining two different user profiles.

Solution: Account Sync allows organizations to use one Moodle or Totara site as a user authentication server for a second Moodle or Totara Site. It creates an Identity Provider (IDP) server that allows organizations to keep users between two sites synced and provides a simplified solution for users to log in with only one username and password set.

Job Sync

This one is for our Totara Learn users:

Problem: Totara Learn offers the ability for a site administrator to create Job assignments and then associate Job assignments to users via their profile pages. And organizations often use LDAP authentication to populate a user’s profile with data related to a user’s Job assignment. But a Job assignment contains fields that are conceptually similar to profile fields but are not actually profile fields. This means that while an enterprise may have the information it would like to use to populate Job assignments as part of their authentication solution, it can’t be done natively.

Solution: Job Sync allows data in a user profile, which can be dynamically updated by external systems via authentication methods such as LDAP, to be mapped and written to a Job assignment for the user. It’s configured by a site administrator to examine specific user profile fields and use the data to create or update the user’s primary Job assignment with the appropriate Full name, Short name, and ID number, as well as the required Organization, Position and Manager assignments.

We’re excited to be making these plugins available to our clients and look forward to releasing more new solutions in 2019. If you are interested in learning more about Data Fetcher, Account Sync, or Job Sync, check out Learning Spaces for videos, training, and more or contact your Account Manager.